Let Aung San Suu Kyi write
Bangkok Post - Thailand; Jun 24, 2001
BY JOHN J. BRANDON
If Burma's military junta is truly serious about dialogue with the opposition,then the opposition's leader must have her say in the press.
In April, the US's chief diplomat in Burma said publicly she saw "some rays of hope" that the country's military junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), might be ready to consider a deal on sharing power with the National League for Democracy (NLD) and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in order to end the country's decade-long political impasse.
If true, this would be an aboutface for a government which has refused to share power, even when the NLD won 82 percent of the parliamentary seats in the last election held on May 27, 1990. Since October last year, the SPDC and Ms Suu Kyi have been holding a "dialogue" on how such a power sharing agreement might look.
However, details of the dialogue have not been made public. Periodically, the international press reports remarks by Ms Suu Kyi, through a third party, that she is "cautiously optimistic" the dialogue will help promote confidence building measures on both sides in order to end the political impasse.
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the third ranking member of the junta and the head of military intelligence, was quoted in a speech as saying that the SPDC is ready "to join hands with all forces of the nation".
Even General Than Shwe, the SPDC chairman, praised democratic countries in a major speech, though he did caution that Burma should not move towards a democratic form of government too quickly. Such remarks make many in Burma believe that the dialogue between the SPDC and Ms Suu Kyi is genuine and are hopeful for the dialogue's success.
But if the dialogue proves to be nothing more than a publicity stunt which only raises false expectations for the peoples of Burma, it will make the future task of socio-political reconstruction that much more difficult.
Despite economic reforms introduced by the military since 1988, political stasis in Burma has left the country in a dire state as the economic growth Burma has achieved has not delivered improvements in employment, human development, and poverty reduction that are needed if the country is to ever reach its potential. Though there may be "rays of hope" that the dialogue might lead to a political breakthrough, reports are beginning to leak out of Rangoon that talks have stalled and Ms Suu Kyi is frustrated by the lack of progress.
From June 1 to 4, the United Nations sent its special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, to help jump-start talks between both sides. After his visit, the UN released a statement saying that it hoped Ambassador Razali's visit would help the dialogue to progress further.
SPDC officials say the dialogue is at a complex and delicate stage, but talks are progressing according to plan. Burma's ethnic minorities, who constitute one-third of the country's population, are particularly anxious to know the details of the dialogue. The ethnic minorities are concerned that if two factions of Burmese join in a coalition, it will come at their expense. Any effort at true national reconciliation will be impossible without ethnic minority participation. Thus far, confidence building measures developed as a consequence of the dialogue are invisible to both the peoples of Burma as well as the international community.
Recently, it was announced that the SPDC has released some political prisoners and have agreed to allow the NLD to open 18 local offices.However, whether these former political prisoners will engage in political activities and if these NLD offices will be allowed to operate as opposed to just being open is unclear.
If the SPDC is truly interested in developing confidence building measures for all to see, it should allow Ms Suu Kyi to write in Burma's government-controlled press without censoring what she says.
In March, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt called for improving the quality of Burma's government-run newspapers. Having Ms Suu Kyi write about how she believes the nation as a whole might constructively address the myriad of problems it is facing - from a shattered economy and failing health and educational systems to ethnic unrest and the proliferation of drug addiction and HIV/Aids - would be a significant development that could lend hope if the dialogue between Ms Suu Kyi and the SPDC is to succeed. Clearly, military rule is no longer acceptable to the Burmese people. The only way a democratic form of government can emerge is through compromise, as Burma's generals possess the means to suppress any popular uprising and have ruthlessly done so in the past. Such compromise must also include taking into consideration the views of Burma's ethnic minorities.
Reform will come at a snail's pace, but it is better to move slowly forward in the effort towards national reconciliation than backwards. Letting Ms Suu Kyi articulate her views to Burma's peoples would be a valuable "ray of hope" if the dialogue is to move forward.
John J. Brandon, a Southeast Asia specialist, is Assistant Director of The Asia Foundation in Washington, DC. The views expressed here are his own.
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